The Lord's House
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Family and friends gather on Christmas. Slash. 8th in Will's/Kat's 2012 12 Days of Christmas stories for my beloved Jack/Drew and our darling babies.


Title: "The Lord's House"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Dedicated To: This is the 8th Christmas story of my 12 Days of Christmas 2012 series for my beloved and wonderful husband, Jack aka Drew, who's always such an inspiration, and also our sweet children! Thank you, my darling soul mate! I love you!  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Family and friends gather on Christmas.  
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, names, codenames, places, items, fandoms, titles, and etc. are always © & TM their respective owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Any and all original characters and everything else is © & TM the author and may not be reproduced in any way without the author's express, written permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.  
Author's Note: 244. That's the number of stories that were sitting on my hard drive collecting dust because I lack the energy and time to take care of them as I once did. My betaing pattern has always been to write, then type up if written on paper, the story, read it aloud to my beloved Jack and our children, editing as I go, and then finally format and post. Sadly, this part is simply taking too much of my time and energy, and my beloved Jack and I have too little time together in person these days to be able to keep up with my stories. So what to do? Give up writing? I actually considered it for a while, tried to make excuses to myself other than the large number of stories collecting cyber dust on my computer, as to why I lacked the energy and Muse to write new tales. And then, with the turn of the new year, I decided to stop running and face the problem. The problem is, quite frankly, that once one gets so bogged down in formatting and editing that writing is no longer a pleasure but the actual posting of those writings becomes a hassle and - egad! - work, it's time to cut something out, and that will never be the writing process. So, in short, yes, there will be mistakes in this tale. Yes, it's missing about half of the header information I usually include. But I wrote it for pleasure and am posting it in hopes of sharing that pleasure with others. Do with it as you will.

He watched as his lover leaned against the strong wall they had built together. Josiah leaned further out over the town, his tired, muscular arms wrapping around a beam and his dark and strong eyes intently watching the night. Josiah could feel the soundless swing of the bell behind him and his cherished Nathan's eyes watching him worriedly. His booming voice shattered the quiet of the night as he spoke, "Merry Christmas." But he didn't look at him or turn away from the darkness.

Nathan squinted as he peered out beyond Josiah's broad shoulder. He tried to see what he saw, but he couldn't. He didn't see the problems he saw, not of the past year or the years yet to come. He didn't see the lost souls or the ghosts of Christmases past who Josiah witnessed shambling around in the darkness. He didn't see the answers that Josiah saw waiting for those who needed Him so badly to just reach out to Him, and He certainly didn't see a little stable from many years ago.

He saw only his love troubled on what should be a very joyous occasion. Josiah sighed, putting the first hint of voice to his worries. It was Christmas Eve. The Lord's house should be full of people, but there was only Nathan and himself.

Nathan moved forward, his mouth open to speak and his hand reaching for the man he loved, but he stilled as he, too, suddenly sensed movement in the dark. Candles flickered in the shadows, all approaching the church. The wind raised, whistling through the balcony and causing the bell to truly ring this time. Nathan jumped.

Nathan began to relax almost immediately, however, as he identified the figures coming out of the dark. The wind rose again. Cold blew in with it, and something wet touched Nathan's dark cheek. He touched it and smiled. It was snowing, and yet, their friends were coming!

Mary was the first to open her mouth down below. She began to sing "Silent Night", and the others, even Chris, joined in as they came to stand together before the church. Nathan finally touched Josiah's shoulder. His hand stayed there on him as their friends sang; he stood beside him as the snow drifted in and out of the balcony and the carolers' voices raised as one.

Nathan waited until their song had finished, and then he squeezed Josiah to him in a one-armed hug. "Merry Christmas!"

But Josiah didn't seem to hear him over the shout of his own voice. "Come in! Come in!" He turned to race down the small, winding staircase that led to the steeple, but not before he quickly returned Nathan's hug with even more strength and passion.

Nathan's grin was as broad and white as the snow that Christmas Eve as he watched his lover pound down the stairs with steps as fast as any excited kid. That night's sermon promised to be a Hellfire one; Nathan looked forward to hearing it. His love was happy, all their friends were gathered together and in good health, and that was all it took to make Nathan's holiday a very merry Christmas indeed.

**The End**


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